Ken Nakagawa, Daisuke Achiwa, and Akira Tsuchiya are quickly getting up there as my favorite composers.  Ever since I completed Ar Tonelico I found it to be some of the best music I have listened to in a long time, and have been getting many of their soundtracks. Recently I got Atelier Judie, Atelier Viorate, and Ar Tonelicco Concert Blue Side. I actually finished listening to the first disk of Atelier Viorate's soundtrack for the first time, and I am loving it so far. I just ordered Atelier Lise Original Soundtrack Premium Pack, and is looking forward to hearing it. I really find their music to be really unique which is why I love it so much. It's also some really good music to lay down or go outside and relax to. I am really looking forward to getting Atelier Iris Grand Fantasm and the OST, and hopefully Mana-Khemia will be announced for the US. Either way I will be getting the OST for that as well! Anyone enjoy their music as much as I do?

Yeah, I'm a massive fan of it. It's both delightfully familiar with its' old-school melodic and synthy feel and delightfully distinct from other RPG soundtracks/composers at the same time. Since Atelier Iris 1, the sound staff has produced gold each time around. Even with the large amount of tracks and the frequency of the releases, they do feel like they're improving...Ar Tonelico was a strong release that was pretty different from the previous Iris OST's and then the amazing Grand Fantasm OST hits. And the two SSH arranged albums bring the series' synth-rock dungeon/battle themes into a new light (they HAVE to do Tonelico/Grand Fantasm now).

Hoping for good things from Lise and the new Atelier game that was just announced.

Judie doesn't have Nakagawa/Achiwa. It has some Tsuchiya, and then some other people.

You should be getting the Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~ OSTs (both of them), and the SSH arranged albums as well. They are all AWESOME.

And yeah...I love Gust's music as much as you do. Every time they release a new album, I generally rant about how much I love their music HERE:

www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks1.html

Ramza

With a few holes (Marie, Lilie), I have all of GUST's notable releases to date, and they dominate all of my playlists.

There's not much point in reiterating what's been said about GUST's awesome, so I'll just say that I'm totally with you on this topic.

I've only heard AIEM and AIEM 2's soundtracks (I really should get around to listening to the others), and I absolutely love them. I heard the AIEM OST way before the game was ever announced for US release, thought it was like the best thing ever, and ended up buying the game because of the music. It helped me to enjoy a game that admittedly wasn't that great.

The Gust sound team just has a knack for coming up with wonderful, lovable melodies. Some of my favorite tracks:

Fun Shopping in Kabokku (I can get lost in this one...)
Hager's Song (haha, how could you not love this?)
Hot or Cool (great bass part at 1:48)
Crack in the Earth
Huge Game Table (love the style)
Duke of Stratosphere
Inferno (so cool)
Deceitful Wings (one of my favorite battle themes ever)

And from AIEM 2:

Gentle Breeze and the Earth (absolutely LOVE this track; it's my next nomination for SotW)
Blazing Earth

It's worth noting that their battle themes are really good.

SSH did a great job with the first arranged album. I haven't listened to the second one that much, as I'm not quite as familiar with AIEM 2's music.

Some of my favorites:

AI1:

Deceitful Wings!!!
City of Bells (still doesn't get tiring ingame)
Witch's Forest
Hot or Cool
Small Workshop (<3)
Phantom Wings, Horned Enigma (significant because I like both a great deal more than their arranged versions...The original PW just has more of that sexy bass I love so much)

AI2:

Mandible of the Abyss
Water Road
Oasis Town
Exciting Cave Exploration
Slasher Blue (even holds up well to the arranged version)
At the Murmuring Brook, Go Novice Alchemist (Pretty much all of the tracks right at the start are golden for this one.)

AI: GF

All Battle Themes and Vocals on Disc 2
Thunderclap
Welcome to the Workshop!
Town of Water
God's Garden
Melodies of a Distant Time

Ar Tonelico:

Valkyria!!!
Lost Performance -Paradox-
Floating on Cirrocumulus Clouds
Town in the Skies
Airport Paradise
Scar
Shooting Star
All Battle themes
Expressive Girl (man, they ripped off the FFIV overworld theme something good, but at least the end result is really good)